Ernani

The rarely performed Ernani is often referred to as Giuseppe Verdi's first masterpiece. The grandmaster of Italian romance abandons a predominantly political approach in order to bring the individual to the fore. Verdi found the ideal raw material in Victor Hugo's play Hernani, ou l'Honneur Castillan, one of the key works of French romanticism in which the emphasis was on raw and realistic emotions. To avenge the death of his father, the outcast Ernani rebels against the Spanish king Don Carlos. A complex plot develops: Ernani and Elvira love each other, but Elvira is engaged to the king's confidant, Silva. When it turns out that Don Carlos also wants to marry Elvira, Ernani ends up in a personal and political morass that can only end in tragedy. With brilliant arias, beautiful ensembles and large choral pieces, Verdi created a gripping opera in which theatrical impact always takes precedence. Conductor Julia Jones and director Barbora Horáková Joly interweave the opera with some specially created monologues by writer Peter Verhelst. Ernani promises to be a not-to-be-missed opera discovery.